Amal clooney risked being thrown into Egyptian JAIL

Amal Clooney, a leading lawyer, was threatened with arrest after trying to publish a report on the country’s dodgy judicial system.

It recommended clamping down on a law that lets Egyptian officials hand-pick judges for certain cases.

But Mrs Clooney, 36, was told she could be locked up if it was published.

“They said ‘Does the report criticise the army, the judiciary, or the government?’ We said ‘Well, yes’.”

Amal Alamuddin

The British barrister said: “When I went to launch the report, first of all they stopped us from doing it in Cairo.

“They said ‘Does the report criticise the army, the judiciary, or the government?’

“We said ‘Well, yes’. They said ‘Well then, you’re risking arrest’.”

Mrs Clooney said the judge-picking issue was key to the case of the three al-Jazeera TV journalists jailed in Egypt amid an international outcry.

She represents Mohamed Fahmy who was arrested in December 2013 along with colleagues Peter Greste and Baher Mohamed.

They were sentenced to between seven and ten years in prison last June by controversial judge Mohamed Nagy Shehata.

Last week an Egyptian court ordered a retrial for the three men but Mrs Clooney said that doesn’t mean much.

She said the recommendation to stop judges being selected “wasn’t followed”, adding: “We’ve seen the results of that in this particular case where you had a hand-picked panel led by a judge who is known for dispensing brutal verdicts. And this one is no different.”

FRESH FACED: Amal Clooney as a law graduate in Beirut [PA] The three media men were accused of spreading lies to help a “terrorist organisation” – a reference to Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

They insist they were just doing their jobs. All three of the journalists are still in custody in Cairo.